Kaporos

Kapparot is an Orthodox custom in which the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a chicken. The controversial Kaparos ritual takes place every year before Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and is practiced in some Orthodox communities. First, selections from Isaiah 11:9, Psalms 107:10, 14, and 17-21, and Job 33:23-24 are recited; then a rooster (for a male) or a hen (for a female) is held above the person’s head and moved in a circle three times, while the following is recited: “This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement; this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace.” The hope is that the chicken, which is then donated to the poor for food, will atone the sins of the individual who takes part in the ritual, and thereby avert any punishment or misfortune. Brooklyn, New York